Starting PA School: Applications – Part 4

Some other useful resources besides books, computers, or equipment I would recommend are applications and subscriptions. Look into buying a 3D atlas that has a range of motion included. I personally found Complete Anatomy to be the best (they have 50% sales every now and then)! If you are using a tablet, make sure it can handle the application or it will be very slow. I wish I had this sooner because it shows all the range of motions for every muscle, nerve, etc.

Sketchy Medical has been my go-to for pharmacology and microbiology. They come up with fun sketches with stories behind the topic and it makes it easier to recall the drug, mechanism of action, adverse drug reactions, etc. I find this one of the most used resources for pharmacology, because it is fun, easy, and sticks with me for a very long time. Sketchy Medical does have pathology, but I did not find it as helpful as pharmacology or microbiology.

Another application I commonly use is Quizlet. Quizlet is a very easy way to test yourself on the material without handwriting every flashcard and then losing them eventually. You can have the app on your computer or phone and take it everywhere. Many individuals will share the decks they made. Another flashcard app is Anki, but I personally do not use it anymore. It uses a spaced repetition algorithm to create long-term memory, but unfortunately, our tests are 2 weeks apart and there is not enough time for me to create the deck and study it effectively.

There are countless other resources out there, but try to limit the resources you use since you more than likely will feel overwhelmed if you try to use every resource you hear about. Do what works for you and ignore the rest.

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Christopher

Second-Year, PA-S at Eastern Virginia Medical School

Christopher is a 27-year-old, first-year Physician Assistant student at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He completed his Biomedical Science and Public Health degree at the University of South Florida and obtained hands-on medical experience as a Nurse Tech at Florida Hospital Tampa and other facilities during and after earning his bachelor’s degree–accumulating over 5,000 hours.
In his downtime, Christopher enjoys traveling with his girlfriend, being active, fishing, photography/editing, and playing with his Golden Retriever puppy.

Comments

I completely agree! Find one or two things that work for you and stick with that (though you may have to adjust for different courses)! I’ve found that a combination of Picmonic and Anki work for me. Picmonic is similar to Sketchy but a lot more concise (average length is about 1:30-2:00 minutes). Picmonic also has a quiz feature that is helpful for reviewing the audiovisual associations.

I agree that these are most helpful for pharmacology and microbiology. I’ve also found it helpful for disease states, medical triads, and buzzwords as well (which shows up in pretty much every class). From tetralogy of Fallot to ARDS to Lambert-Eaton syndrome, Picmonic has been a lifesaver in nailing down the more elusive concepts/facts. And I guarantee you’ll remember it for much longer than the exam if you commit to using an audiovisual technique! Don’t just rely on mnemonics – it’s been proven that the more senses you involve, the longer you’ll be able to retain.

Another thing that has a game changer is previewing Picmonics before (or during) lectures – that way I know what the high yield facts are (based on the Pance Prep Pearls) for each topic that we cover. It’s been very clear to my cohort that those who have committed to using an audiovisual system and spaced repetition are much more efficient at studying and are also much better at recalling things from past lectures. The key thing is finding out what works early and committing to it. I promise that the little bit of “extra work” pays off big time.

I am 10 months into the didactic portion of PA school, and I have also used Anki for every test. I basically just copy paste each key point from the PPT slides and make my flashcards fill in the blank. I pay attention in class (very important!), then make Anki flashcards, then go over them 2-3x (skipping the stuff I already know of that is intuitive) the 2-3 days before each test and feel completely prepared.

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